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After Iran blocked Telegram, Iranians flocked to VPN apps

10 million

Protests over Iran’s stagnant economy began on Dec. 28, followed quickly by the government blocking messaging apps like Telegram. Since then, Iranians have been flocking to virtual private network (VPN) apps.

Published   |  Photo by AP Photo
c-ap_173645872009441
10 million

Canadian VPN app Psiphon saw traffic from Iran jump to 10 million users after the Telegram block, from 3 million before, according to the Wall Street Journal.

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10 million

The Psiphon app hides online activity from censors and allows users to use messaging apps like Telegram and visit blocked news sites.

c-ap_173645872009441
10 million

The app is aimed at people in countries where the government tries to control the flow of online data It is available in languages like Arabic, Burmese, Kazakh, Persian, and Tibetan.

c-ap_173645872009441
10 million

American VPN app Lantern, which is popular in China, also registered an increase in interest from Iran.

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